Automatic reply in WhatsApp: how to set auto reply and a WhatsApp Business automatic message

Can you set an automatic reply in WhatsApp without the Business app?

No. The regular WhatsApp app has no automatic replies. You need the free WhatsApp Business app. You can move your existing number to it on the same phone, and your chats come along. Each app needs its own number, so you cannot run both on one number at the same time.

WhatsApp Business account automated messages: the three tools

Strictly speaking only the greeting and away message are automatic. Quick replies save typing, but someone still has to send them.

How to set auto reply on WhatsApp: the auto reply setting step by step

1. Open WhatsApp Business. On iPhone tap Settings, on Android tap the three dots and then Business tools.
2. Choose Away message and switch on Send away message.
3. Write your text (see the examples below).
4. Under Schedule choose Always send, Custom schedule or Outside of business hours. The last option uses the opening hours in your business profile, so check those first.
5. Under Recipients choose everyone, everyone not in your address book, everyone except selected contacts, or only selected contacts.
6. Save. For a greeting message, go back to Business tools, open Greeting message and repeat steps 2 to 5.

Test it: send a message to your business number from another phone and check the reply arrives.

WhatsApp Business auto reply not working? Check these

• Testing from a saved contact: check the Recipients setting. If it is set to everyone not in your address book, your own test phone gets nothing.
• Greeting message did not come back: it is only sent on the first message, or after 14 days without contact. Test with a number that has not messaged you recently.
• Away message outside business hours stays silent: the opening hours in your business profile decide when it runs. Check them, including the time zone of the phone.
• Setting looks switched on but nothing is sent: update WhatsApp Business, open the away message again and check that Send away message is on and the schedule is not set to a custom period that has already ended.

Can you send an automatic message on WhatsApp at a set time, like a reminder? Not in the app itself: it has no message scheduler. Scheduled and triggered messages go through the Business API with approved templates.

WhatsApp Business automatic message examples you can copy

Each WhatsApp Business automatic message (some people call it an auto response) works best as a few short sentences. These samples work as a greeting or away message:

• Greeting: "Hi, thanks for your message to [business]. We usually reply within an hour on working days. For a quote, please send a photo and your postcode."
• Outside business hours: "Thanks for your message. We are closed right now and open again Monday to Friday from 8:00. We will get back to you then."
• Holiday: "We are closed until [date]. Your message is safe and we will reply when we are back. For emergencies call [number]."
• Busy on a job: "We are on site at the moment. Your message has arrived and a team member will reply as soon as possible."

Keep it short, say when the customer can expect an answer, and only promise what you can keep.

WhatsApp Business account bot: what it takes

The free WhatsApp Business app has no bot. A bot that reads the question and answers it runs on the WhatsApp Business API, through a provider. That means platform fees, Meta fees per delivered template message (replies to a customer within 24 hours of their message are free) and a business verification process. A bot also needs work before it helps: you write the questions it should recognise, the answers, and a hand-over to a person for everything else. For a small business with a handful of question types, quick replies typed by a person are often faster to set up and just as quick for the customer. More on fees in what WhatsApp Business costs, and the full comparison in InBetween vs the WhatsApp Business API. There are also Android apps that read your notifications and reply automatically. They are not made by WhatsApp, only work while that phone is on, and get access to every message, so think about privacy before you install one.

What an auto reply does not do

An auto reply tells the customer their message arrived. The question itself still waits for you. That is fine when you are closed. It is a problem when you are open but the person who knows the answer is someone else: the mechanic, the engineer on the road, the crew on site.

InBetween is not an auto reply and not a bot. It forwards each customer message automatically to one coworker, who replies in their own WhatsApp. The customer receives that reply from your business number, and the coworker sees "Customer 1", "Customer 2" instead of phone numbers. You connect your number by QR code or pairing code, like WhatsApp Web; it is not the official Business API, and the app dashboard is currently in Dutch. With Pause you stop forwarding in the evening and let your away message take over.

Which one do you need?

• You answer everything yourself: a greeting and away message in the free Business app are enough.
• Someone else knows the answer: keep the away message for closed hours and forward messages to that coworker during the day. More on that in the away message alternative.
• Hundreds of chats a day and several agents: look at a Business API platform with a chatbot and shared inbox.

Frequently asked questions